1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a printed circuit board (PCB). More particularly, the present invention relates to a PCB on which X-Y coordinate values of electronic components to be mounted thereon are printed, where the PCB is divided into a plurality of sections, and a method of numbering the electronic components to be mounted thereon with X-Y coordinate values.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many electronic components are mounted on a PCB. Generally, a component's number is printed on the PCB next to the electronic component in order to easily identify the type and number of the electronic component. FIG. 1 shows a PCB on which electronic component numbers are printed. Referring to FIG. 1, electronic component numbers 2, representing a resistor, capacitor, coil, transistor integrated circuit, etc., are printed on the PCB 1.
The electronic component numbers printed on the PCB are determined by a board artworker. A resistor may be printed as R1, R2, R3, etc, and a capacitor as C1, C2, C3, etc. There are two conventional methods of numbering electronic components to be mounted on a PCB. According to one method, electronic component numbers are printed in series, i.e., beginning from the left corner and ending in the right corner of the PCB. According to the other method, the electronic component numbers which were determined by a circuit designer are printed on the PCB as they are, being next to the corresponding electronic components.
However, the above-described numbering methods have the following disadvantages:
According to the first-mentioned method, the electronic component numbers are newly determined and printed on the PCB in order, without following those numbers determined during the circuit design work, and thus have regular arrangements in their numerals. However, if some electronic components mounted on the PCB need to be added, deleted or changed due to the change of the circuit design or specification, their arrangement regularity will be broken easily.
According to the other method, the position of the electronic components mounted on the PCB is substantially different from that determined during the circuit design work, and thus their arrangements on the PCB will be very irregular.
If the electronic component numbers are irregularly arranged on the PCB, it will be difficult to identify a desired component according to its number printed on the PCB, causing the board artwork and board mounting as well as the repair work to be difficult and time-consuming.